Thai artefacts returned from US

An American collector and a Thai doctor, who lives in the US, handed over 46 pre-historic Ban Chiang artefacts to Thailand.

The collectors sent the items to the Foreign Ministry to be handed over to the Culture Minister.

“The smuggled artefacts date back between 1,800 to 4,000 years once belong to an American collector and a Thai doctor, who now lives in the USA. They intended to return these national treasures to their homeland,” Culture Minister Vira Rojpojanarat told a press conference on Thursday at the National Library in Bangkok.

“For over four years the Thai government has called for the return of over 700 artworks from abroad, mostly from the US and another one from Australia,” he added.

“Thank you for the good co-operation between the US and Thai governments for the successful returns,” he added.

Last October, an American collector returned 12 pieces of the Ban Chiang collection to the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Thailand is now in the process of calling for more than 250 artefacts to be returned from US and UK museums.